This name originated via the famous developmental screen carried out by Ed Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus, which earned them the 1995 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The screen identified large numbers of mutants affecting embryogenesis, one of which was named ‘hedgehog’ – mutant embryos were short, stubby and their backs were coated in a mass of tiny spines. When similar genes were found, they were given related names – including ‘Indian hedgehog’, ‘Desert hedgehog’ and ‘Sonic hedgehog’.